TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: Peter D. Lear, CPA, CGMA, City Manager
TITLE: Ordinance 2017-31, Second Reading, Repealing City of North Port Administrative Code, Chapter 54 - Solicitation.
Recommended Action
Approve Ordinance 2017-31, repealing City of North Port Administrative Code Chapter 54 -Solicitation, in its entirety' providing for conflicts; providing for severability and providing for an effective date.
Background Information
In an effort to balance the right to speak freely, to express ideas, and to engage others in debate without undue government interference as well as the desire to protect private residents from unwanted annoyance of itinerant merchants, peddlers and solicitors; the City Commission adopted Ordinance No. 05-33 in 2005, codified as Chapter 54 in the City's Administrative Code of Ordinances.
At the May 10, 2017, Commission Meeting, Commission directed staff to bring back a repeal ordinance of Administrative Code Chapter 54 - Solicitation. In support of the Commission's direction, the United States Supreme Court, on June 18, 2015, issued its decision in Reed, et al. v. Town of Gilbert, Arizona, 135 S. Ct. 2218 (2015), holding that laws designating signs by content category, such as "political signs," constituted a content-based regulation on speech, were presumptively unconstitutional and could be justified only if the government proved that the regulations were narrowly tailored to serve compelling state interests. The Reed opinion has been used to invalidate panhandling and solicitation regulations and invalidate regulations on timeframes and certain locations where panhandling is prohibited on the basis that they are content-based and not the least restrictive means available to promote the safety and welfare of the public.
This item was heard for first reading on October 10, 2017. Commission approved the continuation of the Ordinance to the October 24, 2017 meeting for second reading and ...
Click here for full text